Man sexually assaults his daughter before killing her, burying her in backyard; confesses to avoid death sentence

A California man is facing life in prison without parole after he admitted to raping his daughter after supplying with a lethal cocktail of drugs, then burying her in his yard.

Mercury News reports that prosecutors were initially seeking the death sentence for Mark Mesiti, 49, but in order to avoid it, he took a plea deal in exchange for admitting that he raped, killed, and buried his daughter within less than a year after getting full custody of her. His daughter, 14-year-old, Alycia Mesiti-Allen, was found buried in the backyard of the suspect’s former home in Central Valley.

Court records indicate that Mesitis gained custody of Alycia after authorities said her mother, Roberta Allen, battled with depression and was an unfit mother. According to Allen, however, she couldn’t afford an attorney to battle against Mesiti. In 2006, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Chiarello awarded Mesiti custody of Alycia and her brother. Within the year, she was dead.

In 2009, after years of Mesiti claiming his daughter ran away during a camping trip with friends, cadaver dogs picked up on human remains scents in his unkempt backyard.

“Dad’s story was he was getting phone calls periodically [from Alycia]”, said Sgt. James Robbins. “But it doesn’t appear she ever left the house.”

An autopsy later revealed that Alycia died from acute drug intoxication. An autopsy report indicated she had traces of amphetamine, methamphetamine, morphine, diazepam, antidepressants, opiates, and methadone in her system. Mesiti sedated his daughter with a cocktail of drugs, then took photos and videos of her as he sexually assaulted her more than 40 times.

Further, Mesiti claimed that his daughter wasn’t the first child he sexually assaulted. He admitted that he sexually assaulted a teen girl around 16 or 17 years old, and another little girl who was only 8 years old.

Authorities also found “hundreds of thousands” of photos of child pornography in Mesiti’s possession. Detectives also found incriminating videos, including one of him setting up a hidden surveillance camera inside the 8-year-old victim’s bedroom. The child lived with her mother in Mesiti’s apartment home when the incident occurred. According to court records, the child’s mother was Messiti’s live-in girlfriend.

Mesiti returns to court for sentencing on Nov. 28 in Modesto. Friends and family are scheduled to read a victim impact statement.